Sour crop in baby chicken?

[Christia]

I work with animals so I often deal with rescue animals. About a month ago I got two rescue chickens of about two months old that the owners wanted to euthanise due to some physical deformities. They are doing fine and I decided to get some baby chickens to eventually have a few backyard chickens. The day before our corona lockdown, I found baby chickens in an appalling condition at a pet shop. I simply could not leave them there, as I was sure they would have been killed or died during lockdown. So I came home with five two-week old Potch Koekoek chickens (South African Breed) with respiratory disease and pasty butts. One died the first evening, but the other four were doing fine. They are about three to four weeks old now and all seemed in a better condition. Last night one started to get lethargic, so this morning he had a soft swollen crop, probably sour crop. I messaged the crop and the wind immediately expelled. I know how to treat grown chickens, but is the protocol the same for baby chickens? Soft food, messaging of the crop, some yogurt with live culture? Please advise.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How's your chick?

 

[Christia]

Thanks for asking - It died that same night. The remaining two are doing very well and my two older rescues are also well. The one with the one eye got an infection in the eye socket, so eventually I took them to the vet who says it is coryza, which I suspected, so I got them all on antibiotics for the lingering Coryza - just to suppress the symptoms a bit. They all seem happy and have grown out of the miserable state they had been in when I received them. I would just like some advice on the eye socket, as the tear ducts are probably still in tact, so the eye is still producing tears. She is regularly rubbing it on her wing or with her foot, I assume to wipe away the tears. Sometimes it bleeds when she scratches it with her foot. I wash it regularly with camomile or salt water and put some cold pressed coconut on the eye socket, but I think this is something she will just live with due to the missing eyeball. The vet says it is fine, but I would like to hear from anyone that had a similar situation with a chicken.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry to hear you lost the one. I will tag some members with more experience than can hopefully help.

@Eggcessive , @Wyorp Rock

 

[Eggcessive]

So the chicken lost the eye to the coryza? Usually pus is expressed from the eye, and it is cleaned with saline or water, then an antibiotic ointment is applied to the eye twice a day. If the eye is gone, I would just rinse it with saline and clean it daily. Do realize that coryza and most other respiratory diseases are contagious and make carriers of your flock until the last chicken is alive. With a disease in the flock, it is best to close the flock to any new birds, since each new addition will usually get sick.

 

[Christia]

No, the eye was lost when the pullet was still a small chicken due to others pecking it, I was told. When I obtained them, they already had coryza symptoms. I took them as they were to be euthanised. The vet is of the opinion that the present swelling and infection of the eye socket is due to the coryza. I am aware that coryza does not heal, but with rescue chickens, sadly one often inherit these kind of nasties. I have only four chickens, and they all came to me with coryza symptoms; although I still keep the two younger ones apart. So, yes, I am not planning to introduce any other to the flock. I will just do my best to elevate symptoms.